This blog is my struggle to move toward Christian maturity, and the potholes I hit on the road of life. My blog went from being about religion to being about diet. It is time to bring it back to Christ, since only in Him is life and happiness found.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Calorie goal yesterday was under 1400 so I did good. :) Today's calorie goal is the same - under 1400 because I worked out.

Breakfast this morning was a scoop of Muscle Milk Light mixed in a 1/2 cup cottage cheese. It was so thick I had to add water to get it to mix completely, but it tasted awesome! :)

I'm showing a gain of one pound for March from 138.4 to 139.4, but I suspect it's just water weight. April will be better.

Today I went to the gym and did one hour of lower body and core work. On the walking lunges I did two "sets" up and back down the ramp with 2 1/2 lb. weights, and on the third set I carried 5 lb. weights and it wasn't even hard! :D I've never been able to use the 5 lb. weights before, plus I never had to grab the railing to steady myself even once, so my balance is improving too! :D

After the weights I got on the treadmill. I covered 2.9 miles in 30 minutes, but I had to switch treadmills partway through because the one I was on kept jerking and if it was a hard jerk it would break my pace. I ran about 5.7 or 5.8 mph, the fastest pace that is comfortable for me. I didn't want to push myself because I'm tired from doing the 3 miles yesterday. FitDay says I burned 230 calories just on the run.

I got dressed, had my protein and carb snack on the train, and then walked to work from the train station. 1.5 miles and it took 35 minutes because I had to stop for groceries.

First, my weigh-in. I was up 1.6 pounds, so I'm exactly what I was two weeks ago, but that's okay. It's just water weight from the binge on Wednesday and my usual Saturday cheat day. Give me a week or two of being on plan and it'll come right off.

Friday Brad and I walked along the Hayward shoreline. We went for 2 hours and 10 minutes, 317 calories burned.

Saturday I ate a few too many animal cookies at church so I asked Brad if we could take a quick spin around the lake. It's 3 miles, took us just over an hour, 150 calories burned.

In the evening we went out and found a half carafe for wine. I've been wanting one for ages and we finally found one. I am so happy.

We also looked at port wines and Brad bought me a bottle of Tawny. It's a very sweet wine meant to be sipped in small amounts. I had a little when we got home.

Dinner was Boca burgers on low-carb bread with fat free cheese and fat free mayo. Plain veggies on the side. We also had tuna melt sandwiches with more plain veggies. It was yummy and very low in fat.

It went downhill from there for me food-wise. Everything I ate was low-fat, and some was even healthy (South Beach meal bar, protein cereal), but it was too much food and some of it was bad stuff (100 Calorie Packs). I am back on track today and hitting the water to get this water weight off.

Today (Sunday) is my Monday and I went back to the gym. I did upper body weight training for 1 hour - arms, chest, shoulders, back, and abs. Some exercises I had a lot of trouble with and some I could go heavier on.

On the Arnold Press I can easily press out 8 reps with the 20 lb. weights, but if I go up to 25 I can only do about 3 reps. I'm wondering if I should go up to 25 lbs. and do what reps I can, or just stick with 20.

After weights I did my cardio. I ran on the treadmill and decided to go for distance rather than time, so I ran 3 miles in 31 minutes. I ran between 5.2 and 6.2 mph. I used my heart rate monitor and was in the 80-90% range of my MHR for most of the 30 minutes, which is what I wanted. 241 calories burned. It's amazing how much easier it is to move my body when I am at a normal weight and am in good shape. Running isn't a strain.

I got dressed and had my protein and carb snack on the train. I got off the train at my stop and walked the rest of the way to work - 1.5 miles, 30 minutes.

Total calories burned: 460.

I'll probably go back to the gym tomorrow and do lower body, take Tuesday off (my upper body needs 72 hours between workouts), then hit upper body again on Wednesday.

I'll do the same with my calories this week as last - on gym days I'll keep it under 1400 and on non-gym days I'll keep it under 1300. So my goal for today is under 1400.

Oh...Saturday was the anniversary of my changing my way of eating! It's been 4 years since I started Atkins and gave up all the bad stuff in my diet. I live alone so I totally purged the cupboards and gave all the food in there away. Even though I am no longer on strict Atkins, the lessons I learned there will always stay with me. :)

Another milestone is that as of Saturday I have walked 3,000 miles since I started logging steps on August 22, 2006! :)

I'm working on getting some old photos of me up on Flickr, so keep checking my account for those. :)

Thursday, March 27, 2008

I'm going to show a gain this week after my binge yesterday. I'm bloated and my fingers are puffy. I had to take my ring off with hand lotion. I was too scared to weight myself this morning. I am just drinking up and eating light and lower carb.

I'm better today, but still feeling bleh (a pre-coffee feeling even though I have had coffee) so I skipped the gym and slept in. I walked to work from BART for some exercise (30 minutes, about 85 calories burned), and stopped at WalMart for their store brand of Crystal Light, Special K Protein Water, and bread.

I know. Only two gym workouts this week. Slap me.

My protein and calories are on the low side today. Other than veggies all my other food is protein and I am still low on protein. Breakfast was a half cup cottage cheese with 1 scoop of Muscle Milk Light. Lunch will be a soy burger with fat free cheese (I never use a bun). Dinner will be a half cup cottage cheese with 1 scoop whey protein. Snack will be the NS nacho crisps. I'll have another half cup cottage cheese before bed.

Friday:Brad and I will go for hopefully a very long walk. I'd like to go over 2 hours to burn off my liver glycogen.

Saturday:Church. Dinner will be Boca cheeseburgers and tuna melts with fat free cheese on low-carb, whole wheat bread with fat free mayo. Veggies on the side and red wine (for me) and beer (for Brad).

Sunday:I *will* go back to the gym.

ANewYouin2008 attacked me on the NutriSystem forums today. Here's what she wrote and my response in red.

"Umm Victoria, your post is sort of freaking me out. Not sure anyone knows how to respond to it, hence the silence on the thread today? Eating then making yourself throw up, esp when you plan to overeat, is bulimia. Have you ever thought of or talked to the counselors at NS or elsewhere about this practice you have."

It's not bulimia. I was sick to the point of pain. I have NEVER thrown up before. But you don't know me, so you seem to assume this is common.

"Someone stop me if I am making too much of this, but...it sounds like you found an excuse to overeat (taxes), had guilt about all you ate so you made you ate something else yourself sick feeling, then literally sick, to purge the food and the guilt. Then , right after, rationalizing that you needed to to feel better, then mention that this is not the first time this has happened."

No guilt here, honey. I always eat whatever I want when I do taxes. I gave up the guilt long ago. :) I didn't throw up because I felt guilty. I threw up because I was SICK. I physically felt better after, not mentally. I had some Diet 7-Up and a shortbread cookie to settle my tummy.

I did feel better, managed to get off work early and had some bad food when I got home (and didn't throw it up!).

"I am not saying this at all to judge you. All of us americans have to file our taxes or have in the last few / coming months. But, very few need a xanax to do it, and do a binge and purge cycle based on its event. And the tax company actually did your taxes, so I am not sure where the stress came from? I admire you and the weight you have lost. I am just worried for you and your health. This sounds like a very unhealthly cycle, both mentally and physically, that you discuss, even if it only happened once or a few times."

I did take Xanax. I suffer from depression and anxiety, professionally diagnosed and am under treatment. I take Xanax as needed for those stressful situations that might cause an anxiety attack. Surely you're not suggesting it's better to have an anxiety attack at the tax office??? Don't take this the wrong way, but unless you suffer from anxiety you can't understand what it's like and how little it can take to trigger it. I also take Celexa (an anti-depressant that also helps anxiety) every morning. Before I got on these meds my life was a living hell.

For the last time, I don't do a binge and purge cycle. This is the only the second time in my life I've been that sick (the first time was LONG ago and I didn't throw up)! Good grief. You don't even know me and are making all sorts of assumptions about my life. And because you don't know me, all your assumptions are wrong. My best friend was with me during the whole thing and he would say something if he felt there was a problem. I don't think I belong here. The Race to Goal and TLFC threads were much kinder to me. They know me so don't make false assumptions.

She came back and attacked me after that again. This time she claimed that to make up for my supposed bulimia I undereat and overexercise. I really hate people who think they know you better than anybody else. Making a diagnosis over the Internet! What lunacy!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I was going to go to the gym today, but I woke up this morning and called H&R Block. They could fit me in this afternoon, so I spent the morning washing laundry and then went to get my taxes done.

Traditionally taxes are stressful, so I take a Xanax pill to deal with any anxiety, and I also go off my diet for a day to console myself. So today is a true binge, eat-anything-I-feel-like day, and I won't make apologies. It's something I do anytime I have my taxes done. My last true binge was back in mid-January (my birthday) so I think not having one for over two months isn't too shabby. :p

Evidentally I ate too much and got pretty sick. I asked my friend Brad at work about a way to throw up since I knew if I vomited I would feel better. He gave me warm salt water. It tasted horrible and made me sicker and sicker over about an hour before I finally vomited. :o

After that I ate a small shortbread cookie (carbs to settle my tummy), Brad ran across the street to the gas station to get me a Diet 7-Up, and I started to feel better. I think I just ate too much and made myself sick. It's happened a few times but not like this.

I'm feeling better now and on the mend. I am hoping to hit the gym tomorrow if I feel okay. When my tummy settles down a bit more I'll have my dinner of bad foods. ;) Back on the straight and narrow tomorrow.

At any rate the highlights of today are: got my taxes done (yay!), pigged out, and got sick and threw up. I did about 20 minutes of walking between the grocery store and work.

Yesterday's calorie goal was to be under 1300. I don't have the numbers in front of me but I think my calories came to about 1250. Today is out the window calorie-wise.

I'm at work tonight, but I am trying to work out to get off early. I was over an hour late arriving and then spent my first three hours at work running to the bathroom. Luckily Brad was here staying late so he covered for me. My tummy is getting better but I still feel woozy so I'd like to go home.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Went into the City today. I did always take the stairs. From the BART platform to the street it's 97 steps (I counted). Walked to work from the station I get off at (1.5 miles, 30 minutes).

I felt better yesterday and didn't feel like I would starve to death eating a little more. I think the need the extra calories when working out so hard, so I think I will continue adding those extra 100 calories on workout days. Since I didn't work out today my goal is under 1300 calories.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Went to the gym this morning. The Diet Rock Star totally kicked my ass and gave me energy.

I did lower body weight training today for 1 hour. I forgot my watch so I couldn't do many exercises that required holds. Bleh. I did three sets of walking squats on the ramp, the last two sets holding 2.5 lb. weights in each hand.

For cardio I ran on the treadmill and made one of my goals! I just felt better and had more energy than yesterday, probably because I didn't have to get up so early. I ran 3 miles in 30 minutes!!! I started at 5.5 mph, and got as high as 6.6 mph. Overall it averaged to 6.0 mph - a 10 minute mile! I am pleased as punch.

After the gym I had my protein/carb snack on the train and planned to walk to work. I had to buy a bunch of groceries on the way and almost decided to take the bus partway, but managed to arrange my groceries well enough that I was able to walk the whole way.

I have a cool link to share. It compares your weight with other people of your gender, age, and height.

Friday:Attended Good Friday services. They were really short this year and I was out by 1:30 pm. I had time to kill so I walked over to my gym (10 minutes), dropped my bags, and took a walk around the lake (about 1 hour). I ran across the street to the bank. Eventually Brad picked me up and we went to the chiropractor, then to Safeway, then to Cosco (I bought $160 worth of stuff), then walked along the Hayward shoreline for about an hour. We dropped off something at a co-workers house and THEN finally went home and had a late dinner.

I had a new high step count for the day - 25,464 steps, 11.25 miles total! Whew and woohoo!

Saturday:After church we walked around the neighborhood passing out Easter tracts, doorknob to doorknob. We had 300 tracts, but quite a few people so we made short work of it. I did get in about 45 minutes of walking, though.

My mess up for the day - someone brought donuts and I caved and had 1 1/2 donuts.

Dinner was healthy - steak and veggies, and Brad gave me the leaner cuts.

Sunday:Went to Easter Sunday services. They let out early so I skipped the brunch they offered and walked to the gym (a 10 minute walk from the church I went to) and managed to get a FULL workout! Woohoo!

I did upper body for an hour with some core work. I went up to 25 pound dumbbells on the Arnold Press, but could only manage 4 reps at that weight. I'll keep at it until I can do 6-8.

For cardio I ran on the treadmill at 5.2-5.8 mph. I ramped it up to 6+ mph during the last couple of minutes, and did a 7 mph sprint for the last 30 seconds. I covered 2.75 miles.

I had my protein and carb snack, and then walked from the train station to work, another 1.5 miles and 30 minutes. FitDay says 450 calories burned.

I was really hungry yesterday, I guess because of how strict I was last week. After church I had all my regular snacks and then ate lunch, too! I ate healthy except for a small serving of leftover rice and lasagna (and the donuts!).

Plan for this week:Non-workout days - keep my calories under 1300 (excluding wine on Thursday and Friday).Workout days - keep my calories below 1400. I starved on workout days last week so I'll allow myself a little extra.

I think my loss this week is due to two factors - 1) I really restricted my calories last week, and 2) I behaved better food-wise yesterday - one banana instead of three, no Cheese-It's, and fewer animals cookies and trail mix than usual. The tract distribution also gave me some exercise to burn off those donuts, lol!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Happy first day of Spring! The days and nights are now equal length. :)

Slept in today. Did the 30 minute walk to work. It took 40 minutes because I made two stops that both required crossing large packing lots. Tried to stop at McDonald's for a Diet Coke, but they were out. They asked if I wanted "something else." I said no because the other drinks have sugar, so I asked for my money back. 113 calories burned.

I'll be offline Friday/Saturday so here's the plan. This is Easter weekend so I'll be in church every day. I love Easter, but the word "insanity" doesn't begin to cover it.

Friday:I'm attending Good Friday services from noon to about 3 or 3:30 pm. Brad will pick me up and take me to the chiropractor for my 4 pm appointment. Then we will go to the bank because I have to cash a check. Then we will do our walk (hopefully we'll walk about 2 hours), then hit Safeway so I can buy my bus and train passes.

Saturday:Go to my usual church in the morning. Possibly help distribute Gospel booklets in the neighborhood around the church afterwards (hanging stuff on doorknobs). Hit Costco in the evening. Brad has a membership and is taking me as a guest so I am stocking up on things - Diet Rock Star, cat litter, etc. Possibly shop earlier in the day or Friday night and go to Easter vigil Saturday night.

Sunday:Attend Easter Sunday services. The will hopefully go from 10 am to noon. If they let out at noon I will hit the gym and do weights, but there will not be time for cardio. Walk to work from the train station.

I'll see you all on Sunday, but will keep posting my "Walking With the Master" series in the meantime.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

My calories were higher yesterday (and will be today, too) because I worked out and have a Diet Rock Star (20 calories) and a Special K Protein water mix (30 calories) on workout days.

I left home early this morning because I had to stop by the bank and order checks. It took quite a while and I got to the gym late. I spent one hour on upper body and core. Push-ups are easier. Yay me! I felt better than yesterday, but my butt was really sore from doing lower body.

For cardio I struggled through 30 minutes of running between 5.5 and 6.0 mph, but I can't sustain 6. My heart won't let me. I wanted to cover 3 miles in 30 minutes. I managed 2.92. Then I got dressed, had my protein and carb snack, and walked to work from the train station (35 minutes since I stopped at WalMart and that's a huge parking lot to walk across).

Tonight is laundry so I'll sleep in tomorrow.

Today I starting chatting with a guy at the gym. He said he hadn't seen me in a while and that it looked like I'd lost weight and bulked a bit. I have lost some weight, but I don't know about the bulking part. Still, I'll take the compliment. :) I know I am stronger. I just don't think I've put on much (in any) actual muscle.

I'm eating the last half of my last Atkins peanut butter bar today! I only have the almond brownie bars left, and I already sold them to Brad so I am officially done with the Atkins bars. I'll have the South Beach bars from now on. They have fewer calories.

Today was one hour of weight training, lower body. Did four rounds up and back on the ramp for walking squats. When I did the ball wall sit (3 "sets" of 30 second holds) I could actually see some definition in my thighs! On the standing calf raise I can do the max of 495 pounds though the shoulder pads hurt my collarbones. On the inverted leg press I started at 60 pounds on each side (120 total) and worked my way down to 45 per side (90 total). I'm doing reverse pyramids, remember?

I felt really tired and even my Diet Rock Star was only a little help. I wondered how I was going to get through my cardio.

I started out running on the treadmill at 5.2 mph, and eventually settled into that pace and started to feel better. I worked my way up to 6 mph with a final 30+ second sprint at the end at 7.0. I covered 2.8 miles and felt GREAT afterwards.

I got dressed, had my protein and high-GI carb on the train, and then walked the last 1.5 miles to work (30 minutes).

I'm working overtime today - 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. - so no time for the gym. I dragged myself out of bed an hour early and came to work. The walk from BART burned 101 calories and that's it for exercise. Hopefully I can get back to my normal schedule and hit the gym tomorrow.

I was pretty much on plan yesterday and hope to be today. My personal goal this week is to keep my calories under 1300 Sunday through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will be a little higher because I allow myself some wine.

My "Nutrikins" anniversary passed on March 4, but this past week was week 52 for me due to vacations. I didn't count vacations as being on plan (since I wasn't). So after one year of low-fatting it I've lost only 14.6 pounds. I guess that's to be expected when I am so close to goal and my body is fighting me every step of the way.

Friday I finally got into the chiropractor and he cracked me good. I'm going again next Friday and will go for a few weeks, then maybe every few months for maintenance.

Friday I also went walking with Brad - 2 hours and 5 minutes, 6.1 miles.

Saturday was my day off.

So I gained again this week. Saturdays are food insanity and I must do better. I guess I am overdo for a binge so my body is fighting me and the cravings are more intense.

Today was Palm Sunday so I had an abbreviated gym workout. I went to church, which ran from 10 a.m. to almost noon. By the time I hit the gym floor it was 12:30 and I did weight training until 1:30, and then left for work. I walked from the BART station to work as my cardio. Hopefully I can also get in a weight workout next Sunday after Easter Sunday services.

Tomorrow I have overtime (11 a.m.-11 p.m.) so the walk from BART will be my only exercise.

Oh...I almost forgot to mention - on my virtual walk from San Francisco to Staten Island, I arrived today. I started logging steps (and therefore miles) on August 22, 2006. From SF to Staten Island is 2924 miles according to Google maps and as of yesterday I had 2923.9. 0.1 miles short, lol!

Welcome to Holy Week and the annual tradition of Holy Week readings as we walk with Jesus through the last week of His life. We will be using the Gospel of Matthew this year, with links to the parallel passages in the other Gospels. The first link will go the the KJV version and the second to the same passage in the NIV. I chose these two versions because they seem to be the most popular. These devotions are arranged chronilogically. I will get them up as early each day as possible.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Did laundry last night, slept in this morning, bumped around the house. Just did the walk to work for exercise. It's payday and I stopped at WalMart for Alli since I have a coupon, but they didn't have the kinds the coupon is good for. They said they would have it Saturday or Sunday so I'll check back then.

Weekend plans:Friday: See chiropractor and then go walking with Brad.Saturday: Rest day and church.Sunday: It's Palm Sunday so church. I usually go to church Saturdays, but during Easter I also go Sundays. If it lets out early enough, since it's near the gym, I may be able to do a quick weight workout.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Strength: One hour of upper body stuff today. Once again - like yesterday - I went to the heaviest (495 lb.) weight on the standing calf raise (yay me again!). Got in some core work, too, and did 3 sets of 10 men's push-ups. That felt good.

Cardio: I'm tired today so I ran at mostly just 5.2 mph on the treadmill, with short periods as high as 6.0. Covered 2.68 miles.

Walked to work from BART, stopping for groceries on the way so my 30 minute walk took 40 (tired plus carrying a bunch of groceries). At least I have some food for the next week. I'm tired of zucchini and cucumbers and am going to go for more of a raw veggie mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and baby carrots.

Laundry tonight so I'm sleeping in tomorrow. I'm pretty wiped out and need to rest up for Brad and I's walk on Friday. My legs and butt are sore and trying to work out tomorrow would, I can tell, be a mistake.

I'm formulating a plan for Palm Sunday and Easter. Since the church I'll attend is so close to my health club I could leave right after services and swing by for a quick weight session. Service should be out about 12 or 12:30. If it's 12 I could be at the health club by 12:30 and do some weights. Depends how long the services go. I'm hoping it's just 10:30 to noon.

Speaking of Easter, I'll be posting my annual "Walking With the Master" series, following Jesus' footsteps - chronologically - through His last week. We'll probably be doing Matthew, pulling in the other Gospels as needed.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The final word came down on my overtime next week. Sunday I will be able to go to Palm Sunday services, but I have to work 12 hours on Monday from 11 am to 11 pm, so no workout that day either. Not sure how the rest of the week will shape up, but I may only get two workouts in.

The next week isn't so hot either. Sunday is Easter Sunday so I have church again, and Monday is my bi-monthly city run, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get 3 workouts in that week either. I may switch going into the City to Tuesday and try to squeeze in workouts Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If I try to go to the gym three days in a row my arms don't have time to recover between the arm days. We'll see. I'm going to be up really late Wednesday night and may not be able to make it to the gym Thursday.

I love Easter, but it's sheer insanity on my schedule. I will be getting my walks in those days so it's not like I won't get any exercise, just a lot less.

Anyway - today. I did lower body - starting with walking squats, four sets (yay me!), toe touches, side leg raises, leg raises over ball, wall sits with ball, and finally the standing calf raises and legs extensions. I went up to 70 pounds on the leg extensions, then 60 and 50 to finish the pyramid. :)

On the standing calf raise I put the pin at the highest weight (495 pounds) and I was able to do about 6 reps! (Yay me!) :) I don't go all the way up on my tippy toes because it hurts the tendon on the bottom of my right foot, so I go partially up and down.

I also did some ab work - sits up on ball (3 sets holding 2 lb. ball) and plank with leg raise (only 1 set on this). Also 1 set on the V-sit.

Then I got on the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes at 5.6-6.0 mph with 3-4 30 second sprints at 7.0. I covered 2.96 miles. I could have done 3, but I go for time, not distance.

I took the train out to my stop and walked into work - 30 minutes and 1.5 miles.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Nothing much for exercise today. Ran into San Francisco to get my mail. I walked the 1.5 miles to work from the train and that was it.

I stopped at GNC in the City and bought magnesium aspertate. I need the aspertate and only GNC has it. I also bought SlimQuick drink mix since it does help suppress appetite and I have overtime today (see below).

I stopped at McDonald's on my walk from BART to work for a Diet Coke. I finally figured out why I'm such a diet soda addict - it's a comfort food to me. I was feeling tired and just kinda down. I drank that Diet Coke as I walked and I felt better.

I also stopped at Payless shoes for a new pair of running shoes. I found a pair that was normally $28 on sale for $12! Hopefully they will work for me. I did insist on wide width this time. After my last couple of pairs of regular running shoes it's time to only buy what fits my wide feet.

I have overtime today so I skipped breakfast to save the calories for later. I punched in at 3 pm (my usual time) and won't get off work until sometime between midnight and 12:30. I packed my gym bag for tomorrow and generally tried to do everything last night so that I can get to bed quicker tonight.

Back to the gym for lower body work tomorrow.

I think there's not enough fat in my diet. I already eat very low-fat and then I sometimes take the Alli on top of that. I've been getting sick a lot and I think it might be from lack of fat. I didn't get sick over the summer because the weather was warmer, so hopefully things will improve as spring comes. At any rate, I'm going to try to take Alli a bit less, but still keep it around for high-fat items.

Saturday we also went walking around the lake - 1 hour 5 minutes and just over 3 miles.

I failed at food on Saturday. The pastor's wife brought bread to church. Not just any bread, but homemade, freshly-ground-from-the-wheat-berry and fresh baked 100% whole wheat bread, some with cinnamon swirl, all done by hand. I had three or four huge slices of the cinnamon swirl bread and two huge slices of the plain wheat bread. I honestly lost count of how many slices I ate, but it was probably half a loaf in total. :o

Then my friend and I went out to drinks Saturday night. I had two Irish coffees (with Splenda instead of simple syrup for sweetener), and we split a cheese and cracker plate. I drank way too much wine and one light beer at home. Dinner was Dreamfield's pasta with sugar-free pasta sauce with shrimp. I also threw in a bunch of stir fry veggies from a bag. A pretty healthy meal.

Needless to say, I showed a 1/2 pound gain over last week at my weigh-in this morning. :( I stand at 138.8.

I am back on the straight and narrow today. I nearly didn't make it to the gym because of the time change. Thank God I woke up an hour early and realized it's Daylight Saving! I had a half cup cottage cheese with whey protein powder for breakfast, and the same for my post-workout snack, except that I also have a carb serving post-workout.

I did one hour of upper body and core stuff, starting with free weights and moving to machines, per the advice of M&F Hers magazine. Then I got on the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes - 5.5-6.0 mph, about 2.86 miles covered. I did not walk to work from BART because I have my laptop with me and it's heavy.

Assessment: I'm a bit hungover from too much to drink yesterday, and a bit tired from the time change. It was hard to get moving at the gym. I had a sugar-free Rock Star energy drink like always and that helped perk me up a bit.

Tomorrow is my bi-monthly mail run into the City, so no gym. I plan to go back to the gym on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

A new low today! Woohoo! (See photo on right and click it to enlarge.)

Feeling blah today. It's my Friday and I'm tired. I stayed up late last night doing laundry and slept in today. I'll be up late again tonight. I walked to work from the train, so I did get a little exercise in.

I rescheduled the blood donation again to see what develops (or not) with this itching inside my lip. it could be a canker sore or it could be nothing, but I'll give it another week to resolve.

I tried to make an appointment with the chiropractor tomorrow, but he won't be in, so I guess that has to wait another week, too.

Tomorrow Brad and I will go walking. Saturday is church and they are having a movie night. I don't really want to go, but Brad does, so that's up in the air. Plus I need to buy groceries that night and we won't have time if we stay for the movie. They also serve ice cream sundaes before the movie and I hate watching everyone else eat and I can't have any. :-p

Sunday I'll be back at the gym again, my last Sunday for a while. The Sunday after is Palm Sunday so I have church in the morning and my job needs me to work 3 pm Sunday-3 am Monday, and the Sunday after that is Easter so I'll be in church again. At least one of those weeks I'll likely get to the gym only twice due to all the other stuff that has to be done during the week. I love Easter and Holy Week but life is insanity from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday with lots of time in church.

Even though I'm only on Week 51, somehow my one year anniversary on NutriSystem passed on Tuesday, March 4 and I didn't even know! Yike. Is my counting off somehow?

Had my protein and carb snack and then walked the 1.5 miles from the train station to work, stopping for some groceries on the way.

I finally traced the cause of my weight gain - once again, soy is the culprit. This time it's the soy burgers I've been eating every day. They are made from soy protein concentrate which I can only handle in small doses it seems. *sigh* So starting today I'm cutting out the burgers for lunch and trying to find other foods. Give me a week and the weight will start coming off again. I'm kicking myself for not figuring this out a week ago.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Came home last night to replaced windows. :) Brad had gone over and moved stuff around, but a lot of it wasn't where I wanted it. So there I was moving cat trees around the living room at midnight. :-p I finally got everything arranged. I also did some dusting and wiping down of surfaces since a fine dust had settled on everything.

No exercise today except the walk from the BART station to work. I slept in a bit, then moved the stuff from the vanity room back into the living room and vacuumed.

Here's pics of the work. Click any of the photos for a larger size.

The night before the window replacment, the apartment in disarray.

The old windows are gone!

A big gaping hole in my wall where the windows used to be.

The cats are hiding under the bed, terrified of the strange people and noises.

About Me

I'm an ex-Witch, but have been a Christian since 1996, joining the Seventh Day Baptist church in 1999. I'm politically moderate, but conservative faith-wise. I believe in headcovering (1 Cor. 11). I'm truly pro-life, which means I am also against the death penalty.